I'm new

Everybody, Everybody, Everybody

Each Sunday during worship I invite everyone to receive holy communion. When I first began serving as rector of St. Augustine’s, I thought I was saying that in a way that extended the invitation to everybody in the church. The language that I used, though, was unintentionally churchy – and members of a family who were new to St. Augustine’s didn’t know that they were welcome to come forward and receive the sacrament.

As soon as I learned that, my vocabulary changed. The next Sunday, instead of the words I had used before, I said that no matter what, “everybody, everybody, everybody” is welcome to receive the gifts of bread and wine at communion.

Well, it stuck. From that point on, if I forgot to make the invitation in that particular way, people would remind me. The language has permeated our theology as church. “Everybody, everybody, everybody” became a statement about who we are. We welcome everyone to our table, where Christ is present, where bread and wine become our sacred feast.

And who is everybody? Well, you are. Because we welcome you. Whether you’re a regular church-goer or haven’t crossed the threshold for a very long time. Whether you’re a believer or a skeptic or just curious about what faith means for you. Whether you’re gay or straight or bi or trans. Whether you’re married or divorced or partnered or single. Whether you have kids or not, or are a kid yourself. Whether you’re liberal or conservative, rich or poor, formally educated or not, African-American or Asian or Latinx or Anglo or American Indian, whatever your physical abilities, whether you were born in this country or any other. You are a part of the everybody we welcome. And we can’t wait to meet you.

So come join us sometime soon, for worship, or service, or study, or some good food. And please take a moment to fill out the online welcome card you'll find below. I look forward to getting to know you.